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Hello, friends. I hope everyone is doing well after the whirlwind week.
Tensions are running high on Capitol Hill as everyone is asking how we move forward from the tragedies of this week. People are emotional, especially those I’ve talked to who were close, personal friends with Charlie Kirk.
We’re praying for his family, and everyone else who has been affected by this.
— Cami Mondeaux
The Big Idea: How do we move forward from tragedy?
The death of Charlie Kirk was a fever pitch moment felt across the country. Very rarely do I witness a moment that captures the attention and emotion of every lawmaker on Capitol Hill.
But this did.
In the hours between the initial shooting and the announcement from President Donald Trump that he was dead, there was a palpable sense of fear and grief. Republicans were praying for him to recover and Democrats were condemning the latest political attack.
It was the first time since the assassination attempt on Trump last summer that I saw lawmakers on both sides of the aisle agree on something. But it didn’t last long.
Even before Kirk’s death was confirmed, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., held a moment of silent prayer on the House floor. But that quickly devolved into a shouting match after Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., called for spoken prayer — which angered some Democrats, who lamented that other shootings don’t get the same attention.
Since then, the incident has resulted in a game of finger-pointing and a scramble to find someone — anyone — to blame. And for some of Kirk’s closest friends on the right, they wanted to blame those on the left.
“They did cause this (with) that type of rhetoric,” Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., who was originally recruited to politics by Kirk himself, told us on the Capitol steps on Wednesday evening. “Calling people fascist. Basically saying that we’re Nazis, taking away people’s rights.”
There was more of that from other Republicans, including Trump, placing the blame on “liberals” — even before the FBI has identified a suspect. Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., was vocal about it as well, even going so far as to suggest the media shares some of the blame.
Those are high-temperature responses, and I’ll refrain from sharing other specific statements so as not to fan the flames. But it’s important to note because they’re coming even as Johnson has urged lawmakers to tone it down.
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., had an interesting perspective on it that he shared with reporters. Basically: This is still raw, and people are grieving in real time.
“A lot of us knew Charlie Kirk personally and had interacted with him, and so I give everybody a pass here,” he said. “When somebody passes, it’s a very emotional moment, and I don’t think you can blame anybody for what they say in the next 24 or 48 hours. But I think it’ll settle down, and hopefully it settles down to a calmer place than it was.”
Since Kirk’s death, we’ve already seen lawmakers who have been quick to respond with resolutions condemning his death. Utah Sen. Mike Lee introduced one in the Senate and Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., has his own on the House side.
Those resolutions are largely symbolic, as they just denounce the incident without carrying any legislative weight. Bills to actually enact any law change have not yet been introduced.
New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, for one, told reporters this is a moment for reflection and real action when it comes to gun laws.
“This not about taking away people’s right to a firearm. It’s about ensuring that we have responsible gun laws in the United States of America. And anything else is a deflection,” she said. “I’m sorry. It simply is.”
There are still many unanswered questions about this week’s incident. But hopefully tensions can lower as lawmakers return home for the weekend. And hopefully we can see something change.
— Cami Mondeaux
Stories driving the week
- FBI offers $100,000 reward: The Salt Lake City FBI released two images of a “suspect of interest in connection with the fatal shooting” of Charlie Kirk during his visit to Utah Valley University.
- Happy Birthday: The president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and his wife, Sister Wendy Nelson, gathered with President Russell M. Nelson’s daughters and son and their spouses at the Church Administration Building in Salt Lake City. They read birthday cards and shared cake.
- Social media updates: The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing to investigate claims on whether Meta, one of the largest media companies in the world, knowingly suppressed research on the harms of social platforms for children that could be used to advance policies protecting them from danger.
Congress inches closer to avoiding government shutdown
The government is scheduled to shut down at midnight on Oct. 1. And we aren’t any closer to a spending agreement than we were a few weeks ago.
So far, it seems like the plan has remained the same from what I reported last week: Appropriators want three full-year appropriations bills for the Department of Agriculture, the legislative branch and military funding. Then, the rest of the appropriations bills can be temporarily extended through what’s known as a continuing resolution.
House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., hopes to have a vote on that CR as early as next week, which would put lawmakers in a good spot to avoid the shutdown.
But there are still some obstacles.
Republicans want what is known as a “clean CR,” which means no changes are made to the current spending levels. But Democrats, who will be needed to pass any spending deal, want something that increases spending for health care — especially after the cuts that were passed in Trump’s massive tax bill.
And Democrats appear to be willing to withhold their support if they don’t get that: “We’re totally united. The Republicans have to come to meet with us in a true bipartisan negotiation to satisfy the American people’s needs on health care. Or they won’t get our votes,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said on Thursday.
Other complications include a timeline for a CR: How long would it last? Most appropriators, Republicans and Democrats alike, want just until mid-November so they are more pressured to get the bills done. The White House has suggested a Jan. 31 date.
Some fiscal conservatives want to throw it out until the next fiscal year to keep spending levels down, but that’s unlikely to happen.
We’ll see what progress, if any, appropriators make next week.
— Cami Mondeaux
What’s next
House and Senate are back next week. We’ll see more action on government spending, and likely some movement on Trump’s nominees after the Senate pushes to change its rules. More on that here.
As always, feel free to reach out to me by email with story ideas or questions you have for lawmakers. And follow me on X for breaking news and timely developments from the Hill.